HALLER PARK - BAMBURI NATURE TRAIL - MOMBASA
Price per person: 60/- US DOLLARS Haller
Park Nature Trail started as a cement factory
in 1954. The factory obtained its raw materials from
the quarry, a fossil coral limestone reef that lived
125,000 to 250,000 years ago.
In 1971, Rene Haller started a quarry rehabilitation
drive with the backing of Bamburi Portland Cement
Company. They rehabilitated the southern part of the
Quarry that comprised of 75 hectares and northern
which was 11 square km.
A variety of game animals and birds, which are not
so easy to see, inhabit the fenced area. Each has
a function in Nature Trail's ecosystem, and almost
all of them utilize a different feeding niche.
INFORMATION ON HALLER PARK
The mammal species seen are hippos, giraffes, buffalos,
zebras, waterbucks, elands and Oryx. The bushbuck,
suni and duiker are not easily seen as tend to scamper
away upon hearing any sounds. The animals most active
at night are: bush pig, marsh mongoose and serval
cat.
Below are profiles of famous animals at the wildlife
sanctuary:
Sally And Potty, The Hippos
Sally was reared as an orphan by wildlife filmmakers
and Joan Root in Naivasha. In 1976, when she was 4
years old, she was brought to Haller Park nature Trail.
She is now around 20+ years old and weighs probably
one - 1.5 tons.
Potty was confiscated from a German zoo, because he
was not kept properly, and transferred to Nature Trail
in November 1986. He probably weighs between 1.5 -
2 tons. These hippos mainly feed on soft grass, herbs
and fallen fruits. Hippos mainly stay in the water
during the daytime, which protects their soft skin
from the hot sun, and they feed on land during the
night. Defecating mainly in the water, they fertilize
the pond and enhance algae growth and fish production.
Hippos mature at 3 - 5 years, have a gestation period
of 18 months and live around 40 - 45 years.
Cape Buffalo
Cape Buffalos are African buffalos, and not water
buffalos. There are two females, one who is fully
grown, and the other who was born in Nature Trail
in May 1990.
These buffalos feed on grass, coarse grass, herbs
and leaves.
African buffalos mature at 3 years, have a gestation
period of 11 months and live around 25 years.
Waterbuck
There are at present, group of 7 animals, 1 adult
male, 4 adult females,
1 male and 1 female calf. Waterbuck mostly feed on
grass, herb and leaves. Waterbucks mature at 13 -
14 month, have a gestation period of 9 months, and
live up to 18 years.
Eland
There are at present a group of 1 male, 2 adult females,
2 calves. Herd of 20 - 25 elands are domesticated
at Bamburi Forestry. They are herded and culled for
meat.
Eland normally feed on leaves of trees and bushes,
grass and herbs. They mature at about 1.5 - 2 years,
have a gestation period of 8.5 - 9 months and live
15 - 20 years.
Oryx
There are at present a group of 1 male, 1 adult female
and 1 calf. Herd of 50 - 60 Oryx’s' are domesticated
at Bamburi Forestry. They are herded and culled for
meat. Oryx’s' are extremely adapted to life
in dry, poor rainfall areas.
They feed on grass(coarse and dry), ground fruits,
and tuber. They need extremely little water.
Oryxs' mature at 1.5 - 2 years; have a gestation period
8 months and live 19 - 22 years.
Birds
There are more than 160 bird species recorded to date.
Some species that were introduced to Nature Trail
are crested crane, marabou stork, yellow-billed stork,
pelican, and Egyptian geese.
Bird species frequently seen in the Game Sanctuary:
Gray heron, black heron, great white egret, little
egret yellow-billed egret, sacred ibis plovers, white-faced
tree ducks (seasonal), African fish eagle and pied
kingfisher and malachite kingfisher.
Weaver Birds
The are 3 main types of weaver birds: the Taveta golden
weaver, black-headed weaver and golden palm weaver.
Porcupine
The South African Crested Porcupines are active at
night, and are rarely seen during the day. They hide
in burrows, rock cavities, and boulder heaps. When
threatened, they stamp with their hind feet and hurl
quills.
They mature at 2 years and live up to 20 years.
Crocodiles
The crocodiles are the original parent stock of the
crocodile farm, which consisted of 6 females and 1
male. These crocodiles were introduced from Lake Turkana
and Tana River as eggs and hatchlings in 1975. There
started laying eggs in 1984.
At Nature Trail, crocodile eggs are collected right
after they are laid and are incubated artificially.
Thus, there are better hatching rates and minimal
loss; sex ratio of hatchlings can be controlled by
incubation temperatures and hatchlings can be looked
after optimally
Crocodiles start laying eggs at 8 - 10 years, and
live up to 80 years.
Aldabra Tortoises
The tortoises at Haller Parkure trail are
from Aldabra atoll in the Indian Ocean. They were
collected from people who kept them as pets. Some
were washed ashore.
The biggest and oldest tortoise is over 100 years.
These tortoises are very similar to the Galapagos
Tortoises but are of a different species.
They feed mostly on vegetation, but will eat almost
anything. They lay eggs in excavated nest pits, and
the young need no parental care. At Nature Trail,
despite frequent mating, there have been no offspring’s.
Tortoises have known to live up to 200 years.
Monkeys
The monkeys found at Nature Trail are from an orphan
group and their offspring are from hybrids. These
species are:
• Green Vervet Monkey
• Sykes Monkey
• Mona Monkey
Reforestation Project
Before the Reforestation project, the vegetation and
soil were in terrible condition. There was bare coral
rock with almost no soil and no shade. The ground
water was mostly saline
Salinity has decreased over the years since the ground
is covered with soil and vegetation that absorbs the
heat; the soil also holds back the moisture.
The following vegetation
can be found in plenty:
Casuarina
They come originally from Australia, but occur naturally
along the East African coast. They can tolerate saline
water and are well adapted to dry areas. Their leaves,
which look like pine needles, are adapted t o minimize
water loss. The "needles" are actually green
branches, with a very thick skin, and the leaves themselves,
are reduced to small scales arranged in a row at each
node of the "needles". The Casuarinas are
well adapted to live on poor substrate: microorganisms
living in its roots that help the Casuarina utilize
nitrogen from the air. Other microorganisms dissolve
other nutrients from the surrounding rocks, and make
them available to the Casuarina tree as nutrients.
Casuarina needles decompose very slowly. Due to their
high tannin content, they are difficult for bacteria
to break down. Red-legged millipedes were introduced,
because they feed on dead Casuarina needles, and bacteria
much easily break down their droppings. The millipedes
speed up humus formation. Thus far a humus layer of
over 4 inches has been built up on the coral rock.
Casuarinas are used as poles for house construction,
dhow masts, charcoal, and firewood.
Conocarpus
The Conocarpus' were introduced from Somalia. They
tolerate saline ground water and are drought tolerant.
They need some soil to start, and were most successful
when interplanted with Casuarinas.The wood is used
for dhow building and charcoal.
Algaroba
The Algaroba was introduced from South America. They
are drought tolerant and, also tolerate some salinity
in the water. The microorganisms in the root system
help provide nutrients. They are planted mainly on
the quarry slopes.
The Algaroba flowers attract bees in large numbers
and the seedpods are used as animal feed.
Neem
Fruit bats distribute the neem tree seeds. Neem is
used as medicines for the treatment against malaria
and skin diseases. They can be used as an insect repellant
and insecticide.
Fig
Fruit bats and monkeys distribute the fig
tree seeds. The four fig species are common, the most
common one being Ficus Sycomorus, in Kiswahili called
the mkuyu tree. Fig tree often germinates at quite
impossible places, like on rocks or on other trees.
They produce long air-roots, growing down towards
the soil and becoming proper roots once they reach
the soil. They grow so vigorously once they reach
the soil, that they strangle and kill their host tree
on which they germinated.
Indigenous Species
Many species of indigenous coastal forest and timber
trees are being planted to find the ones most suitable
and to eventually replace the Casuarina and Cornacapus
trees. These trees are Mvule, Mbambakofi, and Mgurure.
